Category Archives: Books

I was able to read the final two books in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy while I was gone.

I have to say, Pullman is a mighty fine author.

Both The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass were page turners. And, after having read the entire trilogy, I have to conclude that the fundies are, to put it bluntly, full of crap.

There was one passage in the final book that was blatantly anti-Christianity, but I really didn’t find the rest of it to be. Anti-organized religion, maybe. Anti-sheepism*, definitely. This is the only passage that I found to be questionable:

I used to be a nun, you see. I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn’t any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all.

[...]

I thought, Will anyone be better off if I go straight back to the hotel and say my prayers and confess to the priest and promise never to fall into temptation again? Will anyone be the better for making me miserable?

And the answer came back – no. No one will. There’s no one to fret, no one to condemn, no one to bless me for being a good girl, no one to punish me for being wicked. Heaven was empty. I didn’t know whether God had died, or whether there had never been a God at all. Either way I felt free and lonely and I didn’t know whether I was happy or unhappy, but something very strange had happened.

In retrospect, that passage probably doesn’t make much sense out of context. The woman speaking was a former nun and she was telling the story of how she stopped being a nun. She had an experience that made her question the choices she had made, and in the end, she chose to leave the Church and follow her passion.

Out of three books, that was the only passage that I thought was truly anti-Christian. And killing God? Hardly! If you plan to read the books, then I apologize for this spoiler (although it doesn’t detract from the plot at all): God is not killed in this book. In fact, God is never seen in these books. Mentioned, yes. The character that “is killed” (um, he dies but isn’t “killed”) is known as “The Authority”, but it’s made clear through the books that he is not the Creator, only a created being who decided he wanted to be in charge.

I don’t see what all the hullaballoo is about surrounding these books. Honestly, I don’t. Pullman is a great writer. His story is classic.

Do me a favor? Read the books before you make judgement on them. Don’t spout off about how horrible they are if you haven’t read it yet. At least take the time to know what you’re talking about before you start spouting nonsense.

 Off soapbox now.

*Yes, I made this word up. It means being a sheep by not thinking for yourself and just following where people lead you.

From the moment I saw the trailer for The Golden Compass, I’ve wanted to see it. But then I heard these rumors going around that it was really atheist propaganda. According to Snopes, it’s true:

The series’ author, Phillip Pullman, is an avowed atheist who has averred that “I don’t profess any religion; I don’t think it’s possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words ‘spiritual’ or ‘spirituality.’” Critics of Pullman’s books point to the strong anti-religion and anti-God themes they incorporate, and although literary works are subject to a variety of interpretations, Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that “My books are about killing God.” (Conservative British  columnish Peter Hitchens  labeled Pullman “The Most Dangerous Author in Britain” and described him as the writer  “the atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed.”)

So I decided I’d go buy the book and read it first. And after reading the book, I still want to see the movie.

This first book is supposedly the the least offensive of the three books, so I’m definitely curious to read the last two. There were some anti-religion themes in the book, that’s for sure. The bad guys are in league with the Church because of their perception that something is bad, when in fact, it probably isn’t. After reading the book, my first thought is that it’s more anti-Catholic than anything else. (Side note: why is it that media always depicts religion as Catholic?) That opinion may change after reading the rest of the trilogy.

From the previews of the movie, though, I have to wonder just how true the movie is to the book. It’s being billed as a kid’s movie, but I bought the book from the adult sci-fi section of B&N (although they were selling a box set of the trilogy in the YA section, the individual books themselves weren’t shelved there). There are definitely some adult themes in the book, and I really want to see how they’re portrayed in the movie – or if they’re just left out entirely in an effort to entice the kids to read the books.

I guess I’ll find out later this month when it comes out.